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The 14-year-old Missouri teen shared the title with Vanya Shivashankar, 13, of Kansas. In addition to the trophy, the pair will receive nearly $38,000 and a Merriam-Webster dictionary, not that they’ll need it.

Vanya correctly spelled the word "scherenschnitte," which means the art of cutting paper into decorative designs, to secure her spot at the top. When Gokul walked up for his turn, he was told the championship word list was about to run out and that he would join Vanya in first place if he could spell the following word: "nunatak." He did it without even asking for a definition.